Monday, August 31, 2015

My Beloved, St. Paul was not of the twelve that You handpicked but after his conversion he spent a great deal of time with those who knew You, lived with You, walked with You and broke bread with You. They were Your closest friends and companions for three years – they heard all You spoke, preached and taught. They were Your disciples and witnessed all the miracles You performed and St. Paul heard it all.

In these verses he speaks about death and Your coming again in glory. He tells us not to grieve inconsolably when a loved one is taken from us because we have hope in a hereafter. Death is not the end of our life’s journey but an entrance into a new one. In the parable of the workers whom the owner of the vineyard called at different times in the day You tell us that those who were hired first will be paid first. Similarly, St. Paul says that those who have died first will be the first to rise from the dead when the Archangel calls and the divine trumpet is sounded. Then those who are alive will join them to meet You in the clouds. Only those who know You, labored in Your vineyard no matter the day or the hour and have died in You will be brought together by God in You, His Son and for Your sake. The rest will be left to the sweet and tender mercy of a loving and just God.

This is our hope, our comfort, our peace and our joy. Death is not the end of the story but the beginning of a glorious new one in You.

Psalm 96: 1, 3-5, 11-13

My Beloved, the psalmist reminds us that we were created for You alone. This is Good News that we belong to You. New songs of praise and thanksgiving are written in every age and by every generation extolling Your goodness, Your great love for us who are so undeserving of a Savior such as Yourself. We are not saved because we have earned it but rather on the merit that You won for us and the cost of Your own life. How truly worthy You are my Beloved of praise.

All we need to is lift our eyes to the sky, the trees, the hills and the world around us to see how good and gracious God is to us always. Nature is constantly rejoicing in You my Beloved, exulting in being created to give You glory we can do well to imitate creation in praising You and allowing You to help us to be what God has meant us to be.

Luke 4:16-30

My Beloved, the people in Your hometown Nazareth thought they knew You. They watched You grow up before their eyes they watched You as You helped St. Joseph labor in his carpentry shop, they watched You run errands for Mary, Your Mother. You played with the children and Your thirty hidden years in Nazareth were as ordinary as their own. Now they see the Man who left home and of whom they have heard so much especially the miracles. The synagogue is full that Sabbath You picked up the scroll knowing exactly which passage You wanted to read from Isaiah Your presence was commanding, their eyes were riveted to You – familiar and yet so different. Your voice is beautiful, mellifluous and they are touched deeply. After reading the well known verses that they have heard so often they watch as You roll up the scroll, hand it to the attendant, sit down and say, “Today these prophetic words come true even as you listen.” The next verses tell us that they all agreed with You and were lost in wonder as You spoke to them about the grace of God.

Yet, there will always be skeptics. Those who refuse to believe the truth because of some preconceived ideas and notions that are stuck in their memories like barnacles refusing to be shaken off. They wanted proof and the only acceptable proof they said was for You to perform some miracles. You never performed a miracle in order to gain popularity or recognition but to alleviate human suffering or as sign to show that You had authority over the whole human person and of nature. You reminded them of their history where God worked miracles for those who were not among the chosen people of God as a sign that salvation is for all.

The people were furious and wanted to kill You. Truth stood before them but there is always opposition and hostility to the enemies of Truth.

Saturday, August 29, 2015

My Beloved, St. Paul reminds us that it is You who taught us how to love. Agape love, the love that God bears for us is difficult for sinners and often seems impossible yet we are called to love with a selfless, sacrificial love. We are called to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters as You lay down Your life for us.

Help me Lord! Grant me the grace and help I need through the indwelling of Your Holy Spirit in me. Psalm 71: 1-6, 15, 17

My Beloved, You have always come to my help and saved me. Thank You for being my rock, my fortress, my deliverer and my stronghold. My troubles are many and my weaknesses legion but I thank You for never forsaking me despite my sinfulness. I wish to praise You all the days of my life, grant me this grace to be always grateful for Your many blessing on me and mine.

Mark 6:17-29

My Beloved, guard me against the folly of making vows lightly. Herod found out the hard way that one does not make foolish oaths in public; adding insult to injury he is prepared to carry out the oath rather than lose face and do the right thing.

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

My Beloved, St. Paul reminds us that the word of God is alive in us and is at work in us. If I am called to be a witness and I am, then my life must be holy, just and blameless before those that I witness to or my witness is worthless.

We are called to pray, warn, encourage. and urge all to live in ways that are pleasing to God who has called us out of darkness to share in Your glory. My Beloved, if our witness is truly sincere then many will come to believe and together we can give You all the glory, honor, worship and thanksgiving that is due to You.

Psalm 139:7-12

My Beloved, how comforting are the words of this psalm. No matter how alone I may feel, how lost or bereft, You are with me. Your Presence surrounds me. You pursue me no matter where I go and You keep me safe in Your love and in Yourself. I shall not be afraid. I shall not allow my fears to overwhelm me. I shall not let loneliness darken my spirit for You my God are with me and I am not alone. Nothing can separate me from Your love.

Matthew 23:27-32

My Beloved, hypocrisy is abhorrent to You because it deceives people into believing our lies. We hide our true selves under a veneer of piety and in doing so we make a mockery of what is truly good and noble. We are called to be without guile; simple, open, and available. What people see in us must be in accordance with what You see in us.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

My Beloved, we each have a calling to which we must remain true. There is purpose and divine plan for my life which I am called to strive to fulfill every day of my life through grace that You make available to me. The olive tree, the fig tree and the vine each knew the purpose for which they were created and they rejoiced in being true to it. However, when we are foolish we look to those who are weak and incapable to lead us and we are led by our error in judgment to ruin and destruction.

Keep me ever mindful Beloved that God created me for Himself and that my home is not here but with Him in heaven.

Psalm 21:2-7

My Beloved, I came to You in sorrow, shame, and weighed down with guilt. I cried out to You for help to save me. You came to my rescue and You washed away my sins. You fed me with Your Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist. You strengthened my resolve to sin no more with Your help. You have blessed me and mine abundantly. You have granted us every grace and good thing in the heavenly places. Your peace rests upon me and I exult in Your forgiveness and Your love.

Thank You for restoring my soul to health. Thank You for the promise of eternal life with You forever.

Matthew 20:1-16

My Beloved, this parable tosses out all our false notions about God and His favor to people. We are all created and called to know and love God and once we do we are given a mission to go out and live the Good News wherever we are. Some of us are called from the moment of our baptism as infants and we are raised in faith in You. Others too come to know You at various stages in their lives and when they do they too are called to labor for the Kingdom of Heaven.

It matters not when we accept You as Christ our Lord what matters is that we are faithful to the mission that is entrusted to us. God does not hold Himself ransom to our imperfect human standards. It does not matter in God’s sight if we have spent our whole life from infancy to old age in living out our faith as we labor for the Kingdom or if in the last stage of our life we come to know Him and are zealous for Him and His Kingdom. To all the reward is the same eternal life in heaven in His Presence always. Thanks be to God.

Sunday, August 16, 2015

My Beloved, we are constantly invited to the banquet at the table You have set. There You provide us with all that we need so we can journey through life. You are Wisdom of God who remains with us as food and drink in order to nourish us. Your hands are always open in order to give us all we need in this life and eternal life in the next. No one is excluded – all receive the invitation to fellowship with You and receive the life that You have to give. Your life in us every day so we can face the challenges and struggles we encounter. God nourishes us with Himself so ordinary mortals can become like You for a while. We can be transformed a little every day into Your image and likeness through the Eucharist.

Ephesians 5:15-20

My Beloved, our lives are a witness to who we are. As Christians we are being watched we must live out a faith in order that those who see us will know that we live according to a divine standard. Anything that is abused will bring tragedy and shame and most especially when we come together to worship God we must observe decorum in all things. The house of God is a house of prayer, praise and Sacrifice of Thanksgiving and worship. When we are in the house of God we are privileged to enter the holy of holies, the inner sanctuary, the very presence of God and we are privileged to eat and drink of God Himself – this is not a matter to be taken lightly or in indifference but with pure joy and gratitude.

Psalm 34:2-3, 10-15

My Beloved, we are called to be a people of praise. If we boast we must boast of the good of God who so loved us that He sent His only Son into the world to lay down His life for us and save us. We are called to imitate You always. We are called to live with integrity and in the divine truths that You have revealed to us. Those who belong to You are fed by You and they will know neither, hunger, thirst nor will they want for anything. You are our Provider and You call us to be people of peace and You promise that You will give us all we need if we are truly sincere in following You who are the Way, the Truth and the Life. There is no other.

John 6:51-58

My Beloved, Your flesh is real food and Your blood real drink. When we eat Your Body and drink Your Blood we receive divine life. You said it we believe it because it is true. The manna in the desert was a foretaste of the true Bread of Angels that we would receive when we approached the Altar of Sacrifice and there ate of the Banquet prepared for us. Here we are nourished with God Himself and this is why we are able to overcome temptation and meet the challenges of life with faith, trust and confidence for God is truly with us.

My Beloved, the veil parted and John the evangelist was given a vision of heaven in it he saw the Mother of God, Your Mother who is the Ark of the Covenant of God for in her womb was placed the Eternal Word of God by the power of the most Holy Spirit. This was the great sign that he saw in heaven, a woman clothed in the raiment of the Sun of Justice, standing on the moon which she represents for all her radiance comes from You and on her head is placed a crown of 12 stars which stand for the 12 apostles meaning that she is the Mother and Queen of the Church as well. She is seen pregnant and caught in the pangs of childbirth and will soon give birth.

He sees Satan represented by a huge red dragon and all the forces of evil and satanic power that rules the underworld and attempts to rule the world as wells. Knowing that the only One that can subdue him and conquer him he waits for the woman to give birth to her Child so he can devour the child. She gives birth to a male Son to whom is given the scepter to rule over all nations. The Son is taken up into heaven by God while the Mother has to complete her time on earth in the desert and wilderness, in this valley of tears.

Salvation has come to us through the fiat of Mary. The Kingdom of God has been established because Mary said yes and made it possible for God to fulfill His plan to save mankind through the incarnation, life, passion, death and glorious resurrection and ascension into heaven of His only beloved Son. Satan is destroyed and the blood of the Lamb has conquered. To us who are saved by You is given the awesome mission to testify with our lives and if necessary with our blood the marvels God has done for us through You.

1 Corinthians 15:20-27

My Beloved, You are raised from the dead having conquered death You have won the victory. The New Adam Your death brought life to the world whereas Adam our first parent brought sin and death into it. This new life which is eternal is ours when You come again in glory to claim all creation and place all under Your rule. To some however is given the privilege to taste the fruit of this new life now and one of the is Your most blessed Mother. Through the merits won for us on the Cross by Your death we believe what the Church teaches that at the close of her life You carried to heaven they to reign at Your side as Queen Mother.

Friday, August 14, 2015

My Beloved, it is important to recount all that God has done for us it helps to strengthen our faith and it renews our courage in difficult times. There are times in life when it seems that we have never known happiness because our present circumstances are so hard we allow it to cloud our vision.

The leaders of God’s people were constantly recalling all that God had down from them beginning with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and his descendants. They told their children and their grandchildren how the mighty hand of God delivered them from the yoke of slavery under the Egyptians, in the desert and the wilderness for 40 years and their entry to the Promised Land. God provided for them every step of the way with food and drink. He accompanied them and fought their battles and he gave them a land that already had everything they needed.I too can trust You my Beloved. I do. Help me always to see Your hand at work in my life even when nothing seems to be going right. You are my Rock, my Fortress, my Deliverer, I place all my trust in You.

Psalm 136:1-3, 16-18, 21-22, 24

My Beloved, as the psalmist reminds us God’s loving kindness is not for a day or an hour but it endures forever. This is why we must cultivate a grateful heart thanking God for providing for our spiritual and temporal needs. God fights our battles for us and so we are victorious with the victory won for us through Your merits on the Cross.

You are the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and yet You humbled Yourself becoming a man, clothed in mortal flesh in order to enter into our humanity and destroy the power of sin and evil that had robbed us of our inheritance as children of God. Thank You Beloved, thank You Father, thank You Holy Spirit Your kindness endures forever.

Matthew 19:3-13

My Beloved, the Pharisees bring before You the sensitive issue of divorce with the desire to test You. You take them back to the beginning to when God created man and woman and made clear His intention that they would have to forsake all others and cling to each other as one flesh. However, the law of Moses permitted them to divorce because of their hard hearts. In fact You tell them that what God has joined together man has no power to dissolve. Should a man divorce his wife and marry another he commits adultery.

The disciples respond that it would be better not to marry, makes clear that marriage to one person for life is hard and perhaps in many instances impossible without the grace that is made available to us in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony and is sustained through the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Holy Eucharist.

You then tell us that voluntary celibacy is a gift from God however there are instances where marriage is not possible because they are born a certain way but those who embrace celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven because God calls them to do so.

The Gospel of the day ends with the parents desiring to bring their children to You so You can lay Your hands on them and pray. This is what every parent is called to do – they must bring their little ones to You constantly. There may be some well meaning people like the disciples who might prevent it but that is not what You wish. The childlike are always welcome in Your Presence.

Thursday, August 13, 2015

My Beloved, if one were to read these verses without stopping to ponder their meaning one would fail to grasp the hidden but profound parallel we must draw from them concerning You, the Sacraments and the priesthood You instituted. Dramatic as the events are they point out to a greater reality that will take place many centuries later.

God has chosen a people and God has chosen a leader for His people after the death of Moses. Joshua is called by God and has been equipped with all he will lead to lead the people across the Jordan into the Promised Land. The priests are to carry the Arc of the Covenant into the river Jordan and the mighty hand of the Almighty will stop the flow of the river, creating a dam so that the people of Israel can cross to the other side on dry land.

The Arc of the Covenant represents the Presence of God and only the priests are permitted to carry it. Only ordained priests in the Sacrament of Holy Orders can take bread and wine and uttering Your Words when You instituted the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist they make You really and truly present to us as our spiritual food and drink. It is the priests help us through the Sacraments to navigate this difficult journey in life and to lead us to the Kingdom of God through You who are the Gate of Heaven.

Psalm 114:1-6

My Beloved, we have an awesome God. There is no God like our God whose power over all His creation is complete. The laws and forces of nature obey His will and He can command them to do just as He desires. He parted the Red Sea for the Israelites to walk through in safety and once again He stops the flow of the Jordan so His people can go across to the Promised Land.

But in You who are the Yes and the Amen of God He has given His greatest and most awesome sign of His love for us. Thank You my Beloved for Your obedience to the will of the Father so we could be forgiven, redeemed, sanctified and restored to the family of God.

Matthew 18:21, 19:1

My Beloved, no one can owe a debt as great as the servant who owed the King ten thousand gold ingots. How could a servant incur such an impossibly high debt and to the King no less? Obviously he could not repay it and so the King ordered that he, his wife and his children be sold as slaves. The amount would still not cover what he owed. The King was right. Our debts have to be paid. The servant, in the parable that You narrate, throws himself to the ground, and begs the King to give him time and he would pay all he owed and what do you know? The King shows clemency above and beyond the wildest imaginings that anyone could ever have. He not only grants him his freedom but cancels the entire debt. Wow. The servant should have been jumping, dancing and leaping for joy.

But he does no such thing. On his way out he sees a fellow servant who owes him an inconsequential amount. What does he do? He take him by the neck, throttles him almost strangling him and demands that he pay all he owes. The poor man cries that he is not able to pay back the amount at present and makes the same plea that this servant had made earlier to the King, “Give me time and I will pay all I owe.” The man should have recalled the King’s mercy and should have shown mercy in turn but he sent him to prison until debt he owed was paid.

The fellow servants were very upset. They had witnessed this episode in its entirety and went to the King and reported what the servant had done. The furious King had the servant brought before him called him wicked and heartless for not showing the same mercy that was shown to him. “I forgave you all that you owed when you begged me to. Weren’t you bound to have pity on your companion as I had pity on you?” The King ordered that the man be punished until he paid the whole debt.

You conclude with the words, that this is how Your heavenly Father will deal with us if we do not sincerely forgive one another from the heart. In the measure that we forgive will be forgiven.

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

My Beloved, Moses was given a glimpse of all the land that God was to give His people. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob received the promise that this land would be given to their descendants. They did not live to see it but they believed that God would fulfill His word and they obeyed Him beginning with Abraham who left the place where he lived at God’s word to go a land he did not know. The promise was repeated to Abraham’s son Isaac and then to Jacob but only in the time of Moses and after a long, hard struggle in the 40 years of exile in the wilderness God’s promise was fulfilled.We are in exile on earth and we too struggle mightily against the world, the flesh and the devil in order to obtain the gift of eternal life that is promised to each of us who are grafted to You Beloved in baptism.

All who receive the call are chosen by God and equipped by Him to carry out the mission that God has commissioned them to do. To Joshua was given the spirit of wisdom and so he was able to lead God’s people into the promised land. They followed him and obeyed him. Each of us has been called Beloved and to each is given a mission to live the Good News in our daily lives from moment to moment. Witnessing to those around us by our lives that we are liberated by You and that we have an inheritance that we share with You according to the will of the Father. Our promised land is with You in heaven.

Psalm 66:1-3, 5, 16-17

My Beloved, the people of God are called to be a people of praise and thanksgiving. We are called to sing, shout and make a joyful noise to the Lord for all the wonderful things He does for us. He gave us a Savior in His own beloved Son so that we may not perish but have eternal life. You have done marvels for us. You have crushed the enemy. You have removed the sting of death. You have given us hope. Your love for us does not depend on whether we deserve it or not we are loved completely and unconditionally.

Grant me the grace to recall all the ways in which You have blessed me instead of carping and whining over the inconsequential. Give me grace to rejoice always for You deserve all the praise and the glory now and forever.Matthew 18:15-20My Beloved, in these verses we see the role that Your Church has to play among the community of believers. We are bound to obey the teachings of Holy Mother Church to her is given the authority to interpret Scripture and guide her children unerringly on matters of faith and morals.God holds Himself bound to whatever she rules as fitting for her members to believe and obey for she does this through the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit. You promised that the gates of hell shall never prevail against her and that You will remain with her until the end of time.

Thank You for Your promise to be among us when we come together as a community of even two to pray about anything. Not only do You guarantee Your presence but You also assure us that anything we ask for in Your Name will be given to us by Your Heavenly Father.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

My Beloved, Moses accepted God’s will that he would not cross into the promised land and that the mantle of leadership would fall on Joshua. We too ought to understand that after we have completed all that God asks of us and we in turn have to hand over the reins to another we should do so with the same grace that Moses did. Once our usefulness has ended then we must leave quietly allowing God’s work to continue according to His will and design.

Moses reminds the people to have faith and courage. Circumstances may look difficult but the people had God on their side. He would go before them, He would be with them, He would be behind them encompassing them, all around with His power and His presence, and they would conquer every enemy and overcome every obstacle. There would be no need to be afraid and to tremble if they believed that God would fight their battles and they would be victorious.

This advice is for us as well as we face life’s challenges. God is always with us and will never abandon us. Neither fear nor has discouragement should have a place in our life for if God be for us then who can be against us? No power will prevail over those who belong to You.

Deuteronomy 32: 3-4, 7-9, 12

My Beloved, one important way to keep our faith alive, is to constantly recall Your goodness and all the wonderful things God has done for us all our lives. How You came to our rescue when we called on You for help. How You saved us from some calamity, how You are always near ready to help and comfort. How You forgive our sins no matter how grave, if we are truly repentant. How we can always start over no matter how terribly we have failed. All these and more are reasons to praise You our awesome God.

An important aspect of our faith is to hand it down faithfully to our children and children’s children. We must share what God has done for us so they too will learn to trust You implicitly always. When we have God with us my Beloved we need nothing and no one else God alone will suffice always.

Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14

My Beloved, people are always preoccupied about who will have the best seats in the house. Your disciples are no different although one would imagine they would be since they lived in such close proximity with You. But they were human like the rest of us. In answer to their question who is the greatest? You drew a little child close to You and said that unless we become like a child we cannot hope to get into heaven. What You desire my Beloved is that we have the disposition of children – children trust their parents implicitly, they have faith that all their needs will be met. They are not afraid when their parents are close at hand. They love without guile. They are innocent. We have to retain this childlike qualities no matter how old we get. A humble, obedient and childlike spirit will ensure that we remain close to You always for to such as these You said the Kingdom of God belongs.

My Beloved, babies in their thousands are aborted every day in every nation. Verse 10 is a solemn warning, “See that you do not despise any of these little ones. For I tell you their angels in heaven continually see the face of my heavenly Father.” So many innocent lives are snuffed out each day in their mother’s wombs and so many will be held accountable for the loss of these precious lives who have been denied their right to live as God Himself ordained. How many millions of angels are pleading for justice on behalf of their little charges who now behold the Face of God.

My Beloved, I always thought this parable a bit of a hyperbole – what pragmatic shepherd would risk leaving 99 sheep who are safe and risk disaster striking them to go in search for one stupid, silly sheep who got lost? Thank You for showing me that it is not ridiculous at all if the shepherd loved all his sheep very much that the loss of even one is unbearable. And finding that stupid sheep who is greatly loved he would feel moved to rejoice that he has finally found him safe and unscathed.

I am like that stupid, silly sheep and I thank You my Beloved for loving me enough to seek and find me each time I got lost. Thank You for not thinking it ridiculous or stupid to come looking for me.

Monday, August 10, 2015

My Beloved, there is no giver as generous as God. Everything belongs to You and out of Your storehouse of abundance You are delighted to pour upon those who ask, every good and perfect gift. You ask us to do the same. We are called to give with abandon, the way God gives, never counting the cost especially when it comes to loving service. It is easy to give of things, it is far more difficult to give ourselves, our time, kindness, patience, a gentle word, or even only a smile. So much easier to give money or things – we give it and we consider we have done our duty.

You ask so much more of us Beloved. You who lay down Your life for us expects us to do the same for each other. In loving our neighbor we love You as You desire to be loved. Teach me Lord more and more each day how to follow You closely and imitate You in every way. Grant me a deeply grateful heart and in my gratitude for Your immense goodness, grant that I may share Your goodness with everyone I meet each day.

Psalm 112:1-2, 5-9

My Beloved, in these verses we have a blueprint of one who is virtuous. One who knows and loves God with all his might and strives to be pleasing to God in all things. On one such as this, God’s favor rests and not only on her or him but on their children as well. Fear of grieving the Lord through sin is a healthy fear. We are afraid of wounding those we love greatly. We are also called to love our neighbor.

Those who love You never walk in darkness for Your light illumines their life. Your command serves to guide them along this difficult journey from earth to the Father’s house. You assure those who live godly lives that all will go well for them because they put all their faith and trust in You. Nothing will shake their deep faith no matter what disasters may take place around them for they know in whom they have placed their trust and You will never let them down.

Those who love You give generously for they know that all they have they have received and You desire that we share with others what You have given us, for they have a right to receive their share from the hands of those who received it from You.

John 12:24-26

My Beloved, when You begin with the words, “Truly, I say to you.” We should sit up and pay attention for You are revealing eternal truths. You say, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies it remains alone but if it dies it produces much fruit.” And then You did exactly what You said – You died, You were buried, You rose again and now the harvest that Your dying produced is abundant.

Teach me to learn to die to myself a little each day and in dying to self to allow life to abound around me. Help me to yield a great harvest too for the Kingdom of God. I do love my life Beloved and my creature comforts. Through the living Presence of Your Holy Spirit in me may I learn how to give up my easy and selfish indulgent ways and give and serve more readily and generously.

Sunday, August 9, 2015

My Beloved, You never leave us or forsake us as Elijah and so many have discovered. When we are afraid You reassure us of Your Presence and send angels to minister to us. Life’s journey from birth to death to eternity can be long and arduous we would not be able to reach our home in heaven if You did not make provision for us as God made provision for the prophet Elijah. The food he was given sustained him for 40 days and nights. You too provide us with food for the journey from earth to heaven. The most Holy Eucharist provides us with all the grace and strength we need from here to the hereafter.Thank You Father for Your desire to feed us with the Body and Blood of Your only beloved Son. When we eat and drink the flesh and blood of the Son of God we receive His life and for a while we are in heaven. Thank You Holy Spirit for coming down upon the gifts we offer You and for giving it back to us as Jesus, our Lord and our God so we can be nourished us in heart, mind, soul, body and spirit.Ephesians 4:30-- 5:2

My Beloved, we can strive to imitate God by imitating You. St. Paul tells us how to life holy lives pleasing to God. We are to refrain from every malice, quarrels, rage, anger and insults. Often we are so sensitive that when our self esteem or pride is wounded we want to wound in return. It takes self-control to keep the hurtful retort from escaping our lips for this we need grace which You provide amply in the Sacraments. Through the Gift of Your Holy Spirit who lives in us through the Sacrament of Baptism marking us children of God we are able to draw on the grace He makes available in order to be pleasing to You.

We do not grope in the dark – You show us the way to heaven and to God. Just as You gave Yourself up for us, becoming the sacrificial victim on the Altar of the Cross whose fragrance continually rises to the highest heavens pleasing God so too must we emit the same fragrance because we are made one with You at every Eucharist.

Psalm 34:2-9

My Beloved, I am privileged to see and taste Your goodness everyday when I receive You in the Holy Eucharist. You are my shelter, my refuge and my shade. You have appointed Your angels to have charge of me to keep me from the snares of the evil one. You hear my cry and You make haste to help me because You love me. I will bless You all the days of my life, Your praise will be always on my lips. I will boast of Your goodness, mercy and love and like Mother Mary will strive to magnify You in my life.

Thank You for being Emmanuel – God with me.

John 6:41-51

My Beloved, we have Your Word, the Word of the Living God in these beautiful verses. “I am the living bread which has come from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever. The bread I shall give is my flesh and I will give it for the life of the world.” When we are one with You in the Holy Eucharist we are also one with the Father and the Holy Spirit since You are One God. I believe my Beloved and because I do You promise that I will receive eternal life. You became incarnate of the Virgin in accordance with the will of God in order to teach us the things of God and to show us the Way back home to the Father’s house.

We cannot grasp the things of God or the mind of God with just human reason. God is beyond our human grasp we can only experience Him in mystery, in the Eucharist, in Scripture, in the Church and in the Sacraments You instituted and in each other.

Thank You my Beloved that You are not the Unknown God to us – we know You, we love You, we eat and drink Your flesh and blood and we are made one with the God of love. The greatest Gift of all Beloved is the Eucharist. Thank You!

Saturday, August 8, 2015

My Beloved, the sole purpose for the creation of mankind was to know God – the One and only God; Father, Son and Spirit. There is no other. Knowing God we are called to share in His nature which is love. The guiding principle of every thought, word and action must be love and only love. First the love of Him who created us in love and then love for each other who were created to experience God the God of love through our love for our neighbor. Those who love will receive every good thing, it will be given to them by the Lord without any effort or striving on their part for it delights the Father to provide all that His children need. In return God asks that we remember Him and His command to love. Love must be the rule of our life – agape love, filial love, a love that transcends anything false or base. A sacrificial love in imitation of Your life Beloved. You laid down Your life for the salvation of the world and we are called to do no less for our neighbor.

My Beloved if we are to be ever mindful of God’s goodness the we must constantly recall His blessings, in doing so we will develop a thankful and grateful heart and spirit. In difficult moments the goodness of the Lord will sustain us and the knowledge that He is always faithful will encourage us and give us strength to go on because He is the same yesterday, today and forever.Psalm 18:2-4, 47, 51

My Beloved, I praise You along with the psalmist and I exult in Your love for me. Because You love me I rejoice. God loves me this is reason enough to sing, shout and clap for joy. I know I am not worthy of such love as Yours my Beloved but You do not love me because I deserve to be loved You just love me and have claimed me for Your own. I love You, O Lord, You are my strength, You are my rock my fortress my deliverer and my God. You are the rock in whom I take refuge. You are my shield, my powerful Savior my stronghold. Each time I call on You who is worthy of all praise You hasten to my side and save me from all my enemies. I will praise You with every breath I breathe my Lord and my God. To You is given all dominion, authority and power for You have won the victory with Your right hand and Your holy arm. King of Kings and Lord of Lords I love adore and worship You. Thank You for loving Your poor little nothing.Matthew 17:14-20

My Beloved, today we learn from a father how we can appeal to You, to God and obtain the favor we desire. You are a God of compassion and Your heart is moved to tender love when we are aware that there is no help in anyone but in You.

This poor father had a severely epileptic son who was in constant danger of death either by fire or by drowning. You came to meet the people all of whom surely had many petitions and needs to put before You but only one approached You in faith, threw himself on his knees and made his heartfelt prayer for his son whom he loved dearly. He had already approached the disciples to heal the boy but despite their best efforts they failed. Your response to the disciples lack of faith is stern and impatient. They ought to have understood by now how to carry on Your ministry. Then turning to the boy You commanded the evil spirit to leave him and the boy was instantly healed. Later the disciples wanted to know why their efforts had failed – Your answer was short – a distinct lack of faith in believing that what they were praying for would be granted. Genuine faith even as small as a mustard seed will gain astounding results. Faith can move mountains.

Do we pray with faith for those we know who are in grave danger of eternal death? Are we as concerned for them as this father for his son? If we were passionately concerned about the eternal destiny of those who may be lost forever we would pray with greater faith and our prayers would be heard every time.

Friday, August 7, 2015

My Beloved, in these verses Moses is reminding the people that it was God who chose them from all the nations to be His own. Never in their experience or knowledge has God intervened so powerfully on behalf of the people of any nation either in times past or in the present to rescue His people with such extraordinary signs and wonders. He made Himself known to them. They heard His voice. Never, says Moses, has God gone out to look for a people, claim them for His Own and exercise His power and strength as He rescued them from slavery and bondage in Egypt and lead them to freedom.

This He did in order that they might know that there is only one God whose voice they were privileged to hear because He loved them. All that is required of them in return is to obey God’s commands and they will be assured that all will be well with them and their children.

All that happened in salvation history, magnificent as it was, is just a prelude of what God was preparing to do for all mankind ever since the fall of our first parents. If what God did for the people of Israel was unheard of then, it was but a shadow of what God was going to for us when He sent You into the world to reveal Himself and His love for us. He sent His only begotten Son, His Beloved, His Eternal Word into the world, incarnate of the Virgin Mary to become the Lamb of Sacrifice that would win for Himself all people from every nation, every culture, every language and every race. From the very jaws of death You saved us from eternal death by entering into it and delivering us so we now have the promise of eternal life and joy with God our Father in heaven. There is no god like our God.

Psalm 77:12-16, 21

Awesome and marvelous as it was my Beloved how God led His people out of slavery to freedom it is not as marvelous, awesome and great as our deliverance from the bondage of sin. There is no slavery as degrading and dehumanizing as sin which paralyses the soul and the spirit and there was no way that we could save ourselves. We needed divine intervention. It was always in the plan of God to reveal His love for us which is unmerited and undeserved simply because He loves.

When we look at our past and all the ways in which God came to our help. His mighty intervention on our behalf even to asking You to become the Lamb of Sacrifice as it is the only Sacrifice that could negate the effects of sin that created a chasm between God and us that only You could bridge.

You are the Way the Truth and the Life and You lead us to the Kingdom just as Moses and Aaron led the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt to the promised land.

Matthew 16:24-28

My Beloved, the value of sacrifice and self denial is priceless it won for us our salvation. We could not save ourselves. We had to be redeemed and the price of that redemption was the life of One who was sinless in order to save the sinful. The Blood of the Lamb of God had to be spilled in atonement for our sins in a bloody, cruel and shameful death for sin is anathema to God.

We flee from suffering, denial of the flesh, self discipline and sacrifice. We would rather wallow in the flesh and attempt to sate its insatiable desires than deny ourselves, take up our daily cross and follow You. The Kingdom of God is full of paradox. We have to lose our life in order to save it. It is only in giving that we receive and if we lose our life we can do nothing to recover it we are doomed eternally, we need a Savior. This is why You came into the world in accordance with the will of the Father and You will come again in His glory at the end of time to judge the living and the dead each according to how well we loved.

Thursday, August 6, 2015

My Beloved, the prophet Daniel was given a vision of heaven, of God and of You. The Father, the One of Great Age blazes with the fire of divine love. Before Him are all who serve Him and the countless multitudes who stand before Him are people of every age, race, nation and culture. Every man, woman and child ever born. The next verses speak of You Beloved. You are brought before Your Father and He bestows upon You dominion over all people and all things in heaven, on earth and under the earth. To You is given all honor, rule and kingship. People of every language in every nation will bow down before You in worship and serve You. Your rule is everlasting for You rule over the Kingdom of God that You came to establish in perfect love, humility, obedience to the Father’s will. When we glorify You my Beloved we glorify the triune God.

2 Peter 1:16-19

My Beloved, Peter was one of the three that witnessed Your transfiguration on Mt. Tabor and so he speaks with clarity and conviction of what he saw and the significance of it. All that the Apostles have taught about You they experienced firsthand. They witnessed Your authority over nature, the spirits and over people – Your power to quell the storm, the drive out evil spirits to restore the body to health and even from death to life. All that the prophets had foretold they saw fulfilled perfectly in You.

They saw the glory of heaven descend upon You and the Father’s voice that proudly proclaimed that You were His beloved Son, His Chosen One. His Eternal Word that had rested eternally in His breast. St. Peter professes and testifies to what He heard and saw so we too might believe, and believing, the bright Morning Star may arise in our own hearts and lives. In believing we live.

Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6, 9

My Beloved, the psalmist sings out exultantly that You reign and this was years before You pierced time and space and became incarnate. They were given foreknowledge of the wonderful thing that God would do and they rejoiced. How much more then must we rejoice and exult, for to us is given the privilege of living in the Age of the Son. You are the Son of God and before You all creation bows down in adoration and worship acknowledging Your might, Your rule and Your power.

There is no god like You our God who laid down His life for His friends willingly in order that You could raise us up with You and remove forever the fear of dying. It is in dying my Beloved that we are born again in You.

Mark 9:2-10

My Beloved, to some are given certain privileges that are not granted to all, this is because they have been chosen for a special purpose. They belong to the inner circle and are privy to knowledge that is not given to all. So it is with Peter, James and John. Of the twelve these are chosen by You because each will be given a special role – this does not mean that they were better than the rest, it just means that it is always You who choose who You will.

You take them up a high mountain leaving the noise and distractions of the city below. In prayer too we have to make the ascent up the holy mountain; in silence, and in quiet so we may hear Your voice, the voice of God. In the transfiguration the three are given a glimpse of Your glory something that they can recall and meditate on once You are taken from them. They see Elijah and Moses one represents the prophets the other the law and You are the fulfillment of both.

Peter is overcome by the experience and desires to hold on to it. He wants to build tents so they could stay on the mountain always and never return to the daily cares and troubles of life. The Presence of God in a cloud covers them and from it they hear the Father acknowledging once again with these words, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to Him.” You are the eternal and most beloved Son of the eternal Father and He commands us to listen to You.

We cannot live in ecstasy forever. We have to come down from the mountain but the wonder of it is that You will remain with us and that is all that matters.

My Beloved, leaders are essential to any community. They are assigned with the difficult tasks. They are required to discern the needs of the community, the problems that exist, the strengths and weaknesses and they are called to report truthfully and offer constructive solutions for the good of all.

The leaders that Moses chose and sent out to check out the land that God had chosen for His people were given 40 days to make a proper survey of it and they were to report back faithfully all that they saw. Unfortunately they gave false reports, they allowed fear to cloud their judgment and their faith, this led to the entire community complaining, groaning and grumbling against the God who had so faithfully cared for them. They sinned against God and the wages of sin is death, always death. For each of the 40 days they had to make reparation for a year and so for 40 years they wandered in the wilderness until the whole generation that had rebelled and murmured against God had died. The promise was to be fulfilled to a new generation who would make a new beginning.

My Beloved, God is faithful to all His promises. In You He gave us a new beginning, a new Covenant and a new hope.

Psalm 106:6-7, 13-14, 21-23

My Beloved, here we see the powerful role of intercessors; those who pray and plead for sinners, asking God to grant them mercy and pardon. Time and time again Moses pleaded for the people when they sinned against the all powerful God – and we now have You, the only Son of God who not only paid the price for the sins of all mankind but who now sits at the right hand of the Father and intercedes for us night and day.

Teach me how to pray effectively in the Spirit and to unite my own prayers of intercession with Yours so the world may know how much You love them and of the great love of the Father who did not withhold His only Son to redeem His wayward children.

Matthew 15:21-28

My Beloved, You are constantly on the move. You have a mission – three years during which You desire to touch as many lives as You can and preach the message of the love of God our Father before the time of the Great Sacrifice. In these verses St. Matthew recounts the encounter between You and the Canaanite woman and she shows us how to pray with faith and to intercede for those we love. The disciples have still not learned that You never send anyone away without granting them their petition. When this foreigner comes to You and addressing You as Lord, Son of David cries out aloud for healing for her daughter who is possessed and tormented by an evil spirit You are silent and Your silence is mistaken by the disciples for indifference to her plight. She is not afraid to make a scene if it will get Your attention but the disciples are uncomfortable with the noise she is making. We can be like that sometimes my Beloved, we see someone wailing and lamenting in pain and crying out to You in prayer and we shift uncomfortably and wish the person would pray discreetly instead of being moved to compassion and praying with them.

In response to the disciples advise to You to send her away You look at her and say something absolutely startling and seemingly cruel, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel.” But this mother would not be denied; she would not take no for an answer and in this exchange between You and her we understand the power of the prayer of persistence made in faith. She fell on her knees and begged You to help her. How deeply this must have moved Your heart to tender love, pity and compassion for her. But the lesson in prayer is not yet complete, You respond to her cry with another seemingly insensitive reply, “It is not right to take the bread from the children and throw it to the little dogs.” The mother was pleading for her child and she said, “It is true Sir, but even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master’s table.” Wow! And You gave her what You intended to right from the start but not without praising her highly for her faith. Little did she dream that day that 2000 years later we would read about her and learn from her how to pray and intercede for those we love. “Woman how great is your faith! Let it be as you wish.” Every prayer made in faith will receive the exact same response from You my Lord and my God.

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

My Beloved, we can be envious of those to whom You show favor just as Miriam and Aaron were jealous of Moses who was clearly revealed as specially chosen by God to lead His people from exile and slavery to freedom. We ought never to dare to speak of those whom You have anointed and consecrated we are called to love and respect our priests and leave all judgment to You who are the sole Judge, there is no other.

There are painful consequences when we readily and openly discuss, criticize and gossip about the shortcomings or weaknesses of priests. We expect them to be superhuman when they are after all men and subject to the same struggles that we ourselves face daily. Yet, God has chosen them and called them out of the world to represent You, His beloved Son. Moses spoke to God face to face. Our priests make You present on our altars at every celebration of the Holy Eucharist and they make it possible for us to eat and drink Your Body and Blood.

They celebrate the Sacraments for us through which immeasurable grace is made available to us. Thank You my Beloved for the gift of priests may we never be the cause of wounding them rather may they always count on our love, help, respect, support and prayers.

Psalm 51:3-7, 12-13

My Beloved, nothing unclean can come into Your holy Presence. I beg you Lord to help me to avoid sin and when I do, for I am certain I shall, I ask that You make haste and forgive me each time I cry out for forgiveness. Help me never to wallow in sin or wait too long before I turn to You in repentance. Help me to actively seek Your will in all things then I shall always e pleasing to You.

Make it possible for me to frequent the Sacrament of Reconciliation often so I may receive all the grace and strength I need to avoid falling into the same sin always.

Matthew 14:22-36

My Beloved, it is human weakness that desires to actively seek adulation and respect from others. This is why after the miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fish You wanted to remove Your disciples to a more secluded place so they would not get puffed up with pride and self glorification. So You sent them away while You Yourself stayed back to disperse the crowds and spend much of the night in prayer alone with Your Father. You would have been exhausted because of the relentless demands made on You by everyone.

In the meantime, the disciples who were crossing to the other side by boat found themselves in the middle of a terrifying storm. The wind and the waves battered their boat and most of them who were skilled fishermen were filled with fear that they might drown. Then they see You walking on water and approaching the boat. Never had they witnessed something like this and thinking You were a ghost they cried out in fear. You immediately reassured them with the words, “Courage! Don’t be afraid. It’s Me!” Dear and impetuous Peter said, “Lord, if is You, command me to come to You walking on the water.” You invited him, “Come.”

How often my Beloved, the storms and vicissitudes of life threaten to swamp us with fear. We cry out to You and swifter than a heartbeat You are there beside us, reassuring us as You reassured Your disciples. “Don’t be afraid.” Then we ask for a favor and You grant it to us. We are called to act in faith and all may go well for a while until we doubt and we fall and like Peter we cry out, “Lord, save me!” And You do gently reprimanding us for our weak faith.

All things are possible if we only believe. You are truly God and the Son of the most High. You know the desires of our hearts bless us Lord and bless all whom we love.

Monday, August 3, 2015

My Beloved, there are always the rabble-rousers who are able to incite even those who are seemingly content to dissent. The Israelites had a short memory; they forgot the cruel lash of the whip across their backs and the hard labor and punishments they had to endure. All they could recollect was the food they ate which in comparison to the daily manna that the Father provided and which caused them so much joy at first was now no longer palatable to the foods they had eaten in the past under the yoke of slavery.

My Beloved, we too can take the Bread of Angels for granted. We can approach You in the Eucharist and be quite indifferent to the great Gift of Yourself to us under the appearance of bread and wine. We become jaded. We are no longer on fire with desire for You who deigns to lower Yourself from the highest heavens to enter our sinful souls.

Moses complained bitterly at the great responsibility which had become increasingly burdensome. We too are tempted to become frustrated at those who are so poorly catechized that they are clueless about the great mysteries of our faith but they in turn raise poorly formed children and the whole Church suffers because of people largely being consumed by the world and its affairs and have very little time for the God of Love who created them and in love and redeemed them at so great a cost.

Like Moses, it is right that we bring our complaints and frustrations to You in prayer for it shows that we are concerned about our brothers and sisters and just as the Lord God helped Moses find a solution to his difficulties so will You assist us in ours.

Psalm 81:12-17

My Beloved, how gracious and kind, tender, loving, compassionate, and merciful is the love of God for His children. All that God asks of us is obedience. It is in obedience to God’s will that we can find true fulfillment in every area of our life.

You beg us to heed You only so we can be truly happy always. Why is it that we willfully continue to be self-indulgent, greedy and selfish? We refuse to exercise discipline and give into every passion without the slightest attempt at self control. Only You can truly satisfy and if we would only permit You for You never act against our will, You will fill our mouths with the finest of wheat and honey from the Rock of all Ages.

Matthew 14:13-21

My Beloved, even though you desired to be alone and deliberately sought out a secluded place You did not allow Your need to eclipse the need of the people who came looking for You. We are called to be compassionate and to have empathy for the needs of our brothers and sisters. You looked at the large crowds that clamored to be with You, to listen to Your words of life that brought them hope and courage, they wanted to touch You in order that they may be healed and they brought others to You too. This is our mission Beloved, we are not to come alone but bring everyone with us even if it in only in spirit so You may minister to everyone.

The disciples too were concerned as the crowd had been with You all day and it was not late in the afternoon. The people had no provisions to feed themselves and they would now be hungry. The disciples came to You so You could disperse the crowds before it was too late so they might find some food to eat on their way back home. You responded, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” The disciples must have looked at You incredulously. How on earth were they to feed so many when they themselves had only brought five loaves and two fish? Right up to the very end the disciples did not have faith enough to know who You truly were although You not only told them plainly over and over again but the awesome miracles You performed should have convinced them that You are God.

You asked them to bring what they had, You asked them to seat the crowds, You looked up to Your Father and prayed a blessing over the food and You asked the disciples to distribute it. All ate as much as they wanted and were satisfied and 12 baskets full of leftovers were collected.

We are told that You fed 5000 men not counting the women and children present. The disciples continued to have little faith despite witnessing this miracle and several others and we need not be so smug ourselves for our faith too is so meager despite all You have done for us.

My Beloved, in these verses, once again God demonstrates His care for the people He chose for His own. In their human frailty they grumbled constantly forgetting all that God had done for them in the past. When they asked for meat and bread He sent quails and manna to satisfy their hunger. The last verses are truly significant. When God gives He gives sufficient for our needs so all are satisfied.

The principles of the Gospel should be the standard by which we should all live our daily lives. There are many with far more than they will ever need and there are those who survive each day on less than a pittance. If we lived according to God’s Word we would share what we have without hoarding and allowing what we have to rot, then all would have more than enough.Ephesians 4:17, 20-24

My Beloved we are reminded by St. Paul not to live as those who do not know You, rather, knowing You, having heard the Good News and believing in Your Word, we can no longer live according to our old, former, sinful ways. Instead, we must be robed in You which means, we are to be clothed in truthfulness, righteousness and holiness. We are called to be doers of the Word. We are called to be like You in all things, in this way we can live our mission to go out into the world and live the Good News.

Psalm 78:3-4, 23-25, 54

My Beloved, the manna that the people of God received when they were in exile in the wilderness is referred to in this psalm as the bread of angels. This account of how powerfully God worked with great signs and wonders I recited and taught faithfully to each generation of the people of Israel. Yet, we know that the bread they ate was only a shadow of the true Bread of Angels, the Bread that You would provide, making of Yourself food and drink for all who believe in You and walk in Your ways.

You give us Your Flesh to eat and Your Blood to drink and eating and drinking of the Son of God we receive Your life and become for a while like You.

John 6:24-35

My Beloved, what is the real reason we come looking for You? Is it just so we can receive what You so generously give. Is our search for You only superficial because we have received some favor from You and we chase You so we can receive more? Do we look at the marvels that You have worked, the signs and wonders, and truly believe that You are God, and desire nothing more than to please You? Or can we never get enough of miracles and keep demanding for more like the people in today’s Gospel passage?

You fed a multitude with just a few loaves and fish and they still ask for another sign or else they will not believe that You are the true Bread that came down from heaven. You are the Bread of Life and anyone who eats You will never hunger or thirst again.

Thank You my Beloved for giving me this Bread. May every Eucharist transform me each day a little more into You, be the transformation ever so slight, and in the end, may I become ever more like You my Lord and my God.